MP slams benefits cap (From Haringey Independent)
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Tottenham MP David Lammy slams benefits cap programme
9:30am Sunday 30th December 2012 in News By Bruce Thain
The MP for Tottenham has hit out at government plans to cap benefits in Haringey before much of the rest of the country.
This month the Government announced the national introduction of a £500-a-week benefit cap would only be initially introduced in London boroughs of Haringey, Enfield, Bromley and Croydon.
Hitting out at the proposals that will be rolled out in April, David Lammy said: “Treating Haringey residents as guinea pigs for the benefit cap experiment is grossly unfair.
“They’re testing a frequently-warned-against cut on an area with the third highest eviction and repossession rate in the UK and placing an extra burden on a council that is already dealing with unprecedented cuts to its budget.
“Because of the continuous nature of the London metropolitan area, we are left with a ludicrous scenario in which residents on one side of the street will have their benefits slashed while residents in on the other side, in another borough, will continue as normal.”
According to figures from the Department of Work and Pensions, up to 1,300 households in Haringey will be affected by the changes that would see benefits limited to £26,000 a year.
ZenithB says...
2:07pm Mon 31 Dec 12
The last testing ground, which was to implement the poll tax, was Scotland (for want of a suitable colony). Not much was learnt from it, though, because it didn't predict fully a backlash to remember.
This may also well be the case ultimately in relation to capping welfare benefits. We ain't all in it together. We are caught in a process of wealth being channelled back to the traditional masters.
Enough of it is being gradually done to dismantle the Welfare State as we know it. And it will probably remain so, consistent with Tory tactical retrogression, even after an eventual Labour electoral victory.
Because Labour might suddenly decide that they too are much the same, after all, when they get down to brass tacks.